Today I want to talk about how you can use meditation to achieve your goals. Meditation is an ancient practice to help a person gain inner peace and happiness. You can also direct it to getting whatever you want in life. Here is how you do it:

1. Start with a vision of what success means to you.

For example, if you want to get a new job, imagine how you will feel when getting the job offer. You need to have a crystal clear vision of the ideal outcome.

2. Begin to meditate.

Meditation is a process of getting your mind calm and centered. When meditation is practiced correctly, you will notice an increase in your ability to focus and concentrate. As you empty your mind of all thoughts, you will enter a higher state of consciousness. Your subconscious mind is in a heightened state and will be more influenced by your thoughts, images and emotions at this time.

3. After you are done meditating, visualize your goals as achieved.

You are now in a powerful state of mind. Anything you focus on will slowly be attracted to you. This is why it is very important to focus on what you want rather than what you don’t want. With your eyes closed, begin to visualize the successful outcome of your goals in complete detail. If you can’t ‘see’ yourself with the goals completed, then have the feelings you would have when you have achieved it.

4. Finally, write down your goals.

With a pen and paper, write your goals as if it were already achieved. In the above example, you would write, “I am now happily working at my new job.” Do this at the end of each meditation. When you write your goals down you will be programming it into your subconscious mind. Your subconscious mind will find ways to help you achieve your goals the fastest way possible. Throughout the day, you will have creative ideas, meet people, and find resources to help you achieve your goals. It is truly this amazing.

Willpower is one of the most important predictors of success in life. We all have willpower. Every morning we have a certain amount of willpower that we deplete by the end of the day. You can think of it as having money in your pocket that you spend throughout the day.

That is why after a long day at work or school, you just want to sit in front of the television or computer and zone out because you have spent most of your willpower during the day. Each decision and action you make during the day either increases or decreases your willpower.

Willpower is like a muscle that you can strenghten with use or get fatigued with use. Each person only has a certain amount of willpower throughout the day. I want to talk about how the practice of meditation increases your willpower.

1. Research has shown that a few minutes of meditation each day can boost willpower by building up gray matter in areas of the brain that regulate emotions and govern decision making. When you meditate everyday, you will be building your willpower muscle.

2. Meditation promotes better sleep. When you are well rested and have enough sleep, your willpower naturally increases.

3. When we are under a lot of stress, our willpower will be diminished. Meditation will help minimize or eliminate the harmful stress in your life. Successful people conserve willpower by developing effective habits and routines to reduce stress.

4. Meditation improves a wide range of willpower skills including concentration and focus. Your ability to focus and concentration is one of the most important determinations of whether you’ll achieve success in life.

Most people do not go to work solely for the paycheck. There are numerous reasons why work is important for our livlihood. Today, I want to talk about being recognized, appreciated and respected at your workplace. We all want to get recognized and noticed for our work. It makes us feel important and gives us a sense of purpose and accomplishment.

When we are not being appreciated at work, we feel demotivated and will work less enthusiastically for the organization. There are a few things you can do to get the attention of other people in a positive way.

1. Do a great job.

The best way to get the attention of others is to be excellent at your job no matter what you are doing. A strong work ethic means taking pride in your work, regardless of what job you hold. When you are good at what you do, you will get noticed by other people that can help you get ahead in your career. Your boss will give you more responsibility which can lead to promotions and raises.

2. Go the extra mile.

Going the extra mile is doing the unexpected. It’s going above and beyond your job description. The best employees are those that go far above and beyond their job duties. They will volunteer for assignments and projects that few people are willing to do. They put in the long hours to get the job done. They are always asking their boss for more work.

3. Become an expert.

If you spend an hour each day learning and reading about your field of work, you will become an expert in 10 years. Expertise takes time and effort to acquire. Very few people will take the time to invest in themselves. When you become an expert, people will seek out your advice, knowledge and opinion. You will be asked to attend important meetings and conferences where your expertise will be valued.

4. Speak up at meetings.

Many of us spend hours in meeting each week. Instead of feeling that meetings are a waste of time, use it to get notice. Speaking up in meetings demonstrates to everyone that you are well suited for your role and ready for the next big job. Become fully engaged in the meeting by asking questions and offering solutions to problems.

5. Help others.

When you help other people at work, your good deeds will not go unnoticed. Everyone at work knows who the team players are. When you help a collegue, it creates a harmonious work environment, builds trusts and goodwill and the person you help will more likely want to give you a hand in the future.

There is so much that we do each day in order to make our work life successful. We make task lists, add reminders and download task management apps on our smartphones and tablets. However, there is something more subtle that demands the attention of our common sense, but often gets brutally ignored. What are these things that make your life harder? Let’s have a look.

Keep the smartphone away- trust us, you don’t really need to read every email, text message or tweet. What usually happens with the smartphones and tablets is that we constantly keep in touch with the whole world when we simply need to focus on our work. Relax, there is nothing so important going on in Facebook and Twitter. Plus, you have subscribed to so many RSS feeds. They will keep updating you every single time. So, stop the habit of peeping in the screen on every beep.

Gossip- while it really feels good to engage in a light-hearted chit-chat with your friends and colleagues; it is recommended that you stay away from gossip. The reason behind this is that it wastes a lot of your precious energy and often, you end up knowing and saying things you should not have. Even worse, when you gossip, you give others the chance to gossip about you. So steer clear of this habit.

Learn to say ‘No’- on a number of occasions we love to play the role of the yes man and say yes to everything. This can sometimes bring trouble. If you are already loaded with work and can’t find time to finish it all, don’t be a good old colleague and say yes if another colleague or even your boss gives you a new task. In such a situation, you only reduce the quality of your work.

Start Listening- this is probably the biggest mistake that you do at your workplace. You don’t pay attention to what is being said and keep wondering about other things. Being lost in thoughts can make you less productive at work.

When you first started your current job, you were probably excited and relieved to be employed. A few months later your enthusiasm for your job has diminished. You dread Monday mornings and you can’t wait to get back home after another 8 hours of stressful work. Your motivation for the job is no longer as strong. Firstly, you must take responsibility for this situation that you find yourself in. No one can motivate you except yourself. If you are unhappy at work, you are responsible for changing it. Assuming you want to continue working at your company, here are 4 things you can you do to change your attitude towards your job.

1. Consider what you enjoy about your job.

Think of several reasons why you enjoy working here. Perhaps you like working with some of your colleagues. Maybe you are working on a project that will enhance your experience or allow you to learn some new skills. Write these things down and read it when you are feeling depressed about your job. Instead of constantly focusing on why you hate your job, look on the bright side and be thankful that you have one.

2. Take a vacation.

If possible, take a few days or weeks off from your job. This time away from work will help you to get a better perspective on your job. Taking a vacation is just as important as getting adequate sleep. When you get enough sleep, you feel energized, refreshed and ready to conquer the world. After a restful vacation, you will come to work with a fresh set of eyes and perhaps a different outlook about your job.

3. Set some work goals.

When you have goals, it helps you to stay motivated, inspired and positive. Goals allow you to measure our progress. When we see that we are making a difference at work, it boosts our morale and increases our value to the company. Sometimes, the work goals are dictated by the company, boss or project. But you always can have additional career goals of your own. You can have goals to improve how you perform at your current work, get some more education and training or learn something new. There is an infinite number of goals you can set for yourself if you want to make some positive changes to your work life.

4. Have fun.

Work is only work when you rather be doing something else. Most people feel that they cannot have fun at work. Fun is what you do on the weekends. This is an incorrect attitude towards your job. The most happy and productive employees are those that love what they do and have fun doing it. If your job is stressful, take a few minutes each hour to give yourself a break. Use those few minutes to do something fun that makes you smile and happy. Think of those few minutes as a micro vacation. Having fun will boost your energy, productivity and creativity.

Did you know that your job is killing you? According to a recent survey, your job is the top reason why you are stressed out in life. While some stress is normal, too much stress can take a physical and emotional toll on your health and well-being. If you dread coming to work and feel relieved when leaving work, this is a clear sign that your job is making you unhappy. In future articles, I will discuss more about stress and work. Below is an interesting illustration of the causes of stress and what you can do to decrease it.